2 centimeters is a short distance to measure. It’s only about 0.79 inches, so measuring 2 centimeters without a ruler isn’t only possible—it’s simple. In this guide, I’m going to show you 9 everyday objects you can use to determine how big 2 centimeters is.
Diameter of a Penny or Dime
If you live in the United States, you can use coins to measure how big 2 centimeters is. A single penny measures 19.055 millimeters in diameter, whereas a dime is 21.21 millimeters. After converting millimeters to centimeters, you’ll get 1.9055 centimeters and 2.121 centimeters for pennies and dimes, respectively.
If you happen to have 10 $1 coins, each of which measures 2 millimeters in thickness, then stacking them on top of each other will get you to precisely 2 centimeters. Isn’t the metric system great?
3 Thumbtack Pins
Thumbtacks are incredibly useful for pinning sheets of paper to bulletin boards and Styrofoam boards. They consist of 2 parts—a pin that pokes through sheets of paper and the head, which is the plastic part with a flat end for pushing.
The length of a thumbtack may differ from brand to brand, but the pins usually measure about ¼ of an inch long. Multiply that by three, and you get 0.75 inches, which is mere millimeters shy of 2 centimeters.
Diameter of 2 AAA Batteries
Cell batteries may differ in size, but they have a voltage of 1.5V. The reason there are so many sizes is to power electronics with different power-consumption levels. For instance, a remote control toy car may use D batteries, whereas your TV remote, which uses much less power, may only require AAA batteries.
Speaking of which, if you measure the diameter of a single AAA battery, you should get a figure of 10.5 millimeters. Put 2 AAA batteries together to produce a collective diameter of about 2 centimeters.
3 Staples
Like batteries, staples come in a variety of sizes. The size of the staple will determine how many sheets the staple can hold together. For instance, a 23/10 staple has 10-millimeter legs, which can be used to hold together up to 70 sheets of paper. Coincidentally, you would only need 2 of the legs to get to 2 centimeters.
However, size 23/6 staples are the standard size, which you may use at the office or at home. Their legs are 6 millimeters long, meaning that you would need 3 of their legs placed in a line to get pretty close to 2 centimeters.
Thickness of a 100-Page Notepad
Any book you use to jot down notes can be called a notepad. However, if you ask for a notepad at a stationery store, the employee may direct you to a miniature notebook measuring 5 × 8 inches and containing 25 to 100 pages.
The thickness of a notepad will depend on how many pages it has. A 100-page notepad will measure around 1.8 to 2.3 centimeters in thickness.
Diameter of 2.5 Peas
You can usually pick up a bag of frozen peas or a bag of mixed vegetables containing carrots, corns, green beans, and peas. If you get them fresh, you will have to pop them out of the pod unless you want to eat that, too.
The diameter of a pea will vary from pea to pea. However, if you measure a pea, you should get a diameter of between 7.5 and 8.5 millimeters. If you have 2 peas side by side, they may have a collective width of around 2 centimeters.
Half a Golf Ball
If you’re a fan of golf, we feel sorry for you. The point of playing golf is to sink the ball in a set number of holes in as few plays as possible, meaning that the winner ultimately plays less golf than the losers.
But if you are a fan of golf, then you should know the diameter of a golf ball. According to the USGA Rules of Golf, a golf ball may not be narrower than 1.68 inches in diameter. If you saw a golf ball perfectly in half, it’ll give you a width of 0.84 inches, which is just 0.05 inches over the 2-centimeter mark.
3 No. 2 Pencils
Have you ever wondered why we had to use no. 2 pencils during exams in school? The reason is that no. 2 pencils have softer, lighter lead, which can be scanned and recorded by machines. The higher the pencil number and grade, the darker the lead.
If you still remember no. 2 pencils from your school years, you probably remember them being hexagonal. If you measure the diameter of a hexagonal no. 2 pencil, it should measure around ¼ inches, so placing 3 of them side by side or on top of each will get you to 0.75 inches or about 2 centimeters.
1.5 Aspirin Tablets
Aspirin has a ton of different uses. Most use aspirin to get over fevers, but some studies have found that aspirin can be taken to lower the risk of heart attacks. In fact, if someone is currently suffering from a heart attack, you should attempt to get them to chew and swallow an aspirin tablet if paramedics are nowhere in sight. The key is to chew the aspirin tablet before swallowing.
Anyway, many of you may not know how long an aspirin tablet is. For your information, it measures about 1.4 centimeters across, which is about 6 millimeters short of 2 centimeters.
Conclusion
Measuring 2 centimeters can literally be done using 2 fingers. However, if you want a more precise measurement, then you’ll have to rely on a ruler or the 9 objects I mentioned above.
If this article helped you visualize 2 centimeters, help your friends out by sharing this article with them. Also, if you know of other everyday objects that measure roughly 2 centimeters in length, let me know in the comments section below.
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